Monday, March 24, 2014

Food Review: Venice Bakery's Vegan and Gluten-Free Pizza Crusts

Venice Bakery's Vegan and Gluten-Free Pizza Crust topped with

Vegan Bacon, Kale, Avocado and Tomato and Smoky Cheddar Sauce

from The Sexy Vegan's recipe

Written by Sarah E. Jahier

If I had to pick a favorite food, I'm pretty sure it would be pizza. I can eat pizza any time of day, days and days in a row, and pretty much never get sick of it. I usually buy store-made dough and roll it out myself to make pizza, but I was recently sent pizza crusts from Venice Bakery to try out. They make pre-made pizza crusts that are both vegan and gluten-free! Now, I'm not gluten-free, but it is always nice to see another gluten-free option out there that is also vegan. And as long as it's vegan, I'll try it!

Venice Bakery makes all sorts of different pizza crusts, from a full 12" pie, to small individual rounds, to flat bread style crusts, both in plain and seasoned flavors! Though I've had some rather unappetizing gluten-free crusts in the past, these Venice Bakery pizza crusts were really awesome! First off, they taste delicious and their texture is spot-on. They are thin, but they are never too crispy or hard - they have just the right amount of bite and with the perfect outer crunch. I love how chewy they are, but without being too tough. They also held up rather nicely under piles of toppings and different kinds of vegan cheeses.

Venice Bakery's mini pizza crusts and flat bread crusts topped with

Daiya mozzarella cheese, jalapenos, Upton's seitan bacon, pineapple,

and soy pepperoni crumbles.

I tried the various Venice Bakery pizza crusts with Daiya vegan cheese, Trader Joe's mozzarella-style vegan shreds, and a cashew-based vegan cheese sauce (recipe from The Sexy Vegan Cookbook: Extraordinary Food from an Ordinary Dude), plus with toppings like pineapple, vegan bacon, tomatoes, jalapenos, pizza sauce, avocados, kale and more! All of the pizzas were delicious, and both the plain and seasoned flavors of the crusts greatly added to the creation of such tasty pies!

I also love how Venice Bakery's crusts stay fresh up to two weeks on the counter or up to three months in the freezer! And they just take about 12 minutes to cook in the oven. It is such a convenience to have these flavorful pizza crusts ready whenever I feel like pizza but don't feel like rolling out my own dough.

Close up of the mini pizza crusts to show how nicely browned they

get around the edges, resulting in the perfect amount of crispy

chewiness!

If you are looking for a great gluten-free, vegan pizza crust, I definitely recommend Venice Bakery! Their pizza crusts are vegan and gluten-free, but be careful when buying their other products, as some contain egg or dairy. Please always remember to read the ingredient list to double-check for non-vegan ingredients!